Grand Jeu Lenormand

Out of all the Lenormand oracles, the Grand Jeu de Mlle Lenormand (also known as the Astro Mythological Lenormand and the Grand Lenormand) is perhaps the most complicated and detailed oracle you will find on the market. It is comprised of 54 cards (the jokers being replaced by a Man and Woman subject cards), and is filled with Greek Mythology scenes (as well as mundane ones for everyday situations), flowers, playing card suits, constellations, as well as alchemical annotations.

Out of all the oracles that bear Mlle Lenormand’s name, I think this deck is the closest in representing the one that she most likely would have created in the hopes of eventually publishing it herself.

Its complexity has an extravagance that only Mlle Lenormand might have attempted in order to make the Mother-of-all Divination tools. If anything, Mlle Lenormand didn’t just dream big; she dreamed big and large with neon signs and in the hopes of upstaging anyone else at the time.

It is also, in my opinion, the reason why the deck isn’t as widespread as the others. It is far too complicated and cumbersome. It is obviously meant for someone who has an extensive background in a variety of occult sciences, as well as an excellent grasp of Greek Mythology, and caters to a very distinct clientele. It isn’t something that most beginners will look for.

However, for those of you that want to follow in Mlle Lenormand’s footsteps, this oracle is probably the closest thing you will get that will en-globe all of her occult knowledge. It is well known that Mlle Lenormand loved Greek mythology, and that she studied extensively in astrology as well as alchemy. At one point, she even sold flowers or gave them away to some of her clients to counter or encourage certain influences.

Despite all of its complexities, the Grand Jeu Lenormand is the perfect way to expand your Lenormand knowledge as well as your intuition.

I have been using this deck for three years and – as you’ve said in your post – this one is quite difficult to start. I had to buy additional book in order to understand everything what cards say. After these three years of daily practise I could say that this deck is the most interesting of all. Ancient Mythology really helps to reveal the cards but once you start to understand everything goes quite easy. I’m just curious where could I read about kabbalah numerology which is so popular in these cards? Any suggestions?
Anyway nice website and thanks for the information how to use standart Lenormand cards. Good luck with your work!

Good question about the “kabbalah numerology” – I’m assuming you’re talking about the Alchemy alphabet in the top right corners? If so, I haven’t found a really good solid reference for those yet. Jean Didier has some definitions for them in his book on the Grand Lenormand, but I don’t know where he got his information from.

He does mention that A (see 5 of spades) is about autonomy, ambition and mastery, whereas the A with the inverted U on the 7 of spades is for action, creation and unity, but then goes on to say that the A on the 8 of Diamonds is about enthusiasm, will and initiative. Not sure, how much we can rely on his information given the discrepancy.

At one point I though the dots beneath the letters might have to do with the actual tree of life, but then, they don’t really coincide. It is an area that I’ve been curious about for a long while since both the Letters and the Flower have had many people stumped over the years, however I do plan in delving into it when I do have more time. Hopefully soon!

You see I used this term “kabbalah numerology” because my German book (“Das Handbuch zu den Großen Lenormand-Karten” by Anne L. Biwer) which I use to divination says that M. Lenormand was very good at this subject.
Now it’s really weird to me that identical letters can have different meanings because there is information in my book which says that letter A correspondents number 1 and stands for “divine perfection”.
When talking about flowers, as far as I know, they represent present situation – how one should act in order not to complicate the future.
One more interesting thing. These geomantic symbols under the letter indicate time. For example Amissio (5 of hearts) shows a period of 1 hour and so on.
By the way do you know anything about combinations of the cards? As always my book gives information but I’m interested in knowing from you because I can see that our information about letters is quite different.
I’ll be stalking your website to find out more.

Why don’t you join us on the Learn Lenormand Forum? Once you reach 25 posts, you can access the Grand Lenormand section where we can discuss these in more detail. I’ll be honest though, we’ve been concentrating on the Petit Lenormand for now and haven’t really dived into great detail into the Grand Lenormand yet. It is something I did want to get into eventually, and you’d be very welcome.